Chic Made Simple – Review & Giveaway!

Written by chanie on November 28th, 2012

When I first received the Chic Made Simple cookbook, I was wowed. It’s filled with beautiful pictures, impeccable food styling, and lots of delicious recipes that are truly, made simple. Esther Deutsch’s new cookbook promises fresh, fast and fabulous kosher cuisine, and it delivers. With appetizers & sides, soups, salads, poultry, meat, fish, dairy and desserts, the cookbook lacks for nothing. Chef’s are fond of saying “We eat with our eyes first”, and no one knows that better than Esther. Her talent for plating and food styling are on full display page after page. As a wannabe food stylist (at least for my blog) this book has taught me a lot.

While styling is important, the food also has to speak for itself. The recipes in Chic are simple enough for the novice cook, yet sophisticated enough for the more experienced chef. Some of my favorite dishes include quinoa patties, pulled meat wontons, roasted chestnut pumpkin soup, sundried tomato basil capons, creole veal burgers, 60-second cajun salmon, fruit tartare, and many more.

All that being said, I do have a few small qualms about this book. As the food editor of Ami magazine, many, of the recipes appeared in the magazine at some point (46 of the recipes in the book have never been published). While it mostly reads like a cookbook, there is some confusion where the pictures don’t entirely relate to the recipe, and some magazine spreads that were stuck in the book, disrupting the flow. The pictures, having been photographed by a few photographers, don’t offer the same style, and some are so highly manipulated, they don’t look realistic. As a graphic designer, I find this very frustrating, but to the untrained eye, most people will not be disturbed by it.

Bottom line: Chic Made Simple does in fact offer chic recipes that are fairly easy. Some recipes use highly processed ingredients, but most include ingredients that you’d find in your pantry. While many will not be able to plate their dishes as impeccably as pictured, the recipes sure seem to taste as delicious as they look.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me about a simple recipe that you serve in a chic way! And if you don’t already follow me on facebook, like the BIB page here. Winner will be chosen at random at 11:00 PM Wednesday, December 5th.

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the oil, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, flour, baking powder, and salt on medium speed until well combined, about 2–3 minutes. Add the chocolate chips and combine.

2. Pour the batter into two 9-inch round baking pans and bake, uncovered, for 55–60 minutes. Serve the torte warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

3. To reheat, warm the torte, tightly covered, in a preheated 200° F oven for no longer than 1 hour. Serves 16.

Note: This recipe yields two 9-inch round cakes. You can serve the second one as a breakfast cake.

100 Comments so far ↓

I make a simple seared tuna steak seasoned with salt, pepper, and Asian five spice. It looks gourmet when I plate it on top of a mound of guacamole above a bed of lettuce, but it only takes 20 minutes to prepare!

I don’t really serve anything in a chic way. My life is about keeping it simple, but something I do that my kids like and my husband always says ‘how fancy’ when I do it is put raw veggies on a cake platter, with a nice bowl in the middle filled with dip. Very simple but because of the presentation it is eaten up much faster.

I believe any dinner can be “chic”, if its plated. Instead of serving shnizel and mashed potatos in serving trays, use an ice cream scooper to plate the potaotes and put salad on the rest of the plate and top the salad with shnitzel. Instant chic!

I am in love with my newest dessert recipe. It’s simple frozen cookie dough, but I bake them in cupcake tins. I serve them as runny chips, with vanilla ice cream, and topped with caramel or strawberry.

I love making chicken stir fry. It only takes minutes to cut up some assorted veg and chicken breasts. The cook time is super short. It can be eaten on its own or with rice on the side. My family loves this dinner and it’s a quick one to prepare. Plus it looks great too.

I tend to serve things simply,but sometimes I’ll take my basic brownies and cute them with a round cookie cutter.plate individually and garnish-with some powedered sugar,a mint leaf,a strawberry or raspberry,etc.-makes it look more impressive.

I have a REALLY simple chocolate mousse pie recipe. I serve it sliced with a drizzle of chocolate syrup and maybe some sliced strawberries on the side, and get comments on the presentation all the time!

I LOVE using egg roll wrappers to make easy recipes look chic! I especially love using them for mini quiches-i made them for a friends brial shower and they were the hit of the party and were super easy to make!

I also use them for something as easy as green beans/asparagus-wrap them up with spices to make a beautiful side dish!!

I make this meat pizza with a WW dough and top it with tomato sauce, tons of spinach, carmelized onions with mushrooms and group beef on top!
I slice it up and serve with homemade fries and salad. YUMM!

I have learned over the years that a brunch buffet is a really easy way to entertain and yet be able to sit down and enjoy your guests. Aside from the quiches, bagels, spreads, fish dishes, desserts, etc. I like to dip dried fruits i.e. pineapple, apricot, orange flavored prunes(yes they call them dried plums these days) in dark chocolate and serve them on a highly polished silver platter…it really looks quite elegant and is so easy to prepare. Thank you so much for the opportunity to win such a lovely cookbook. I would love to win this for my son and daughter in law who have housefuls of Shabbat dinner guests and ‘drop ins’ each Shabbat afternoon. They would be as thrilled as I.

I like making different easy desserts in mini ramekin dishes , like when im in a rush will take frozen cookie dough and bake in ramakins, serve with parve vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries, looks so elegent, but so easy!Can also be used for any kind of crumble like cranberry apple or cherry.

I’ve been so interested in this cookbook! Fantastic review, thanks! Also love the recipe you included! My favorite recipe to make chic but keep simple would be mushroom puff pastry pockets, with a little sauce and a garnish! Quick, simple and elegant!

i love making chicken Marsala when i have last minute shabbos guests! i just coat strips of chicken breast in some flour, salt, and pepper- fry for abt 4 min on ec side. then cook some mushrooms in white wine- then add chicken and viola! chicken Marsala restaurant style in min. ( my mom-in-law recipe- thanks mom!)

We have a really elegant tea set which includes little cups, little saucers and a tray. We also have a beautiful teapot. We serve tea with dessert to our guests and everyone always loves it! It’s an easy way to add a chic and elegant touch to a meal.

I bake brownies from a box, sprinkle in some cinnamon and vanilla extract before baking, and when almost done, I sprinkle the top with mini chocolate chips and people always think they are amazing. One of my sons says his friends all think my brownies are the best in the whole class !! ;)

Simplest dessert that looks super fancy! I make a simple chocolate cake batter, in mini individual bundt pan. Serve with a scoop of ice cream, and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. Finish with a strawberry. Individual desserts are so classy, and this one is so easy to do!

I like to start out a shabbos meal with a salad appetizer. We put them in martini glasses, layer the salad in it and drizzle the dressing over the top. Everyone is always wowed when they sit at the table.

Guac baby! It’s so easy to make and I do mine authentic with fresh tomatoes and chopped cilantro. I serve it in a clear bowls or mini individual servings cups with a chip and a sprig of cilantro to garnish.

sushi gefilte fish sooo chic defrost gefilte fish and divide in 5. press down on nori sheets and put shredded carrots at one end roll up and bake at 350 for half hour. slice and serve like sushi with a dipping spoon of spicy mayo and edamames impressive shabbos appetizer and with chopsticks of course . would love to win the cookbook

I absolutely love spending time in the kitchen! I know this sounds a bit crazy but I plate my gefilte fish ultra chic! I own a vividly colored platter in the shape of a big fish, and i plate the loaves of fish with bright orange carrot slices and luscious lemon swirls. I plate my two dipping chreins in sleek white square cups and voila – chic G.Fish!

I wrap thin slices of smoked salmon around asparagus spears. Always looks elegant, and with fresh baguettes, a plate of good cheeses and a bottle of wine, makes for an easy and elegant dinner that takes 5 minutes to throw together.

I have my butcher remove the center bones of a whole chicken so i can stuff it and serve it without having to carve it. The chicken looks beautiful on the serving plate and also in individual portions when it’s served.

Nothing I serve is incredibly fancy, but it all tastes good. We love BBQing and roasting onions, veggies and potatoes to go along side it. The fanciest I get is when I make knishes for Yom Tov with a tuna mixture inside and a cucumber dill sauce on top.

My 9 year old daughter likes to serve the hummus or horseradish in a cucumber cup on Shabbos to make it a little more special. That is probably all the chic I can manage, although I would love to try more ideas.

One way that I try to make the simple into something chic is the addition of a vegetable that will add not only taste, but color. For example, when I set up a platter of hummus for guests, I will often make a plain/standard hummus, but also one with carrot, or beet, or roasted red pepper, and then a spinach. (This variation is great for matzo balls, too!)

I dress up salmon by cutting it into squares, spreading a bit of pesto on a mini square of puff pastry & folding each corner into the middle. Then bake. Looks so fancy, gets great reviews from my guests & is so easy!

I dress up simple ice cream and cake by drizzling either chocolate syrup or any fruit syrup on the plate. Once, I angled 2 biscotti in the ice cream scoop and sprinkled cookie crumbs over the syrup. It took no time and everyone thought it looked fancy. It’s all about presentation.